Retaken
by bloodhungryHalfa
Summary: Sometimes, they just don't tell you the whole truth... because there's more than one to tell. A different take on the story of Danny Phantom, from the beginning of the beginning. :: AR. Contains OCs. Rated T for later violence, blood, morbidness, etc... (Cover Image by DeePr)
1. Episode 01: Unavoidable SideEffects 1

**Sometimes, they just don't tell you the whole truth, because there's more than one to tell. A different take on the story of Danny Phantom, from the beginning of the beginning.**

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><p><strong>Warning: This contains an OC, Dyanna Fenton. The one that I have a link to a picture of in my profile *hinthint*. And so the <strong>(nonexistent) <strong>mystery fades and you OC-haters are going to kill me. Jah? Thought so. But, actually, I have a good reason for her existence, though it doesn't get revealed until she meets Clockwork... which isn't revealed until waaaay later...**

**Timeline: Begins a month before mystery Meat episode, at the beginning of the beginning... **

**...**

The OC-Fenton's name? Uuuum... the reason I chose that is a mystery for now... :3

A-yup.

Did you know Jack has green eyes? I only recently found that out! And now I feel silly. Because I've watched that show since... I don't even remember. Maybe when it first came out? That sounds right.

I loved it because Danny Phantom and I share our initials!

Then I watched it and liked it way more because it was a cool show... :P

I've changed the dates of some of the episodes, so... don't go and point and glare saying THAT IS WRONG! Because it isn't. Not here, anyway.

The song I used down below is _Parallel Worlds_ by _Elliot Minor_. I just HAD to! It just fits so damn WELL with the scene.

There's a link on my profile to a youtube video featuring Dani and Danny to that song. Pretty good..

I've almost finished part 2, and part three and on have been outlined. Episode one has a total of six parts, and I'm going to aim to make each episode three parts. So... good luck. Hope you don't mind this horribly.

And if you do... I have mai chomping fangs ready!

Just kidding.

Or am I?

**...**

**Adolph – German – Noble Wolf  
>Daniel – Hebrew – God is my Judge<br>Dyanna – Latin – Divine; form of Diana (goddess of the moon and of hunting in roman mythology)  
>Jasmine – Persian – Jasmine Flower<strong>

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><p><strong><span>Retaken<span>  
>Episode One: Unavoidable Side-Effects<strong>

Episode Summary: "_Dyanna and Danny Fenton are thirteen/fourteen year olds who are pretty average at first, until an accident causes them to receive ghost powers! The powers don't work at all well, always acting up, and the two are forced to deal with the side-effects... as well as come to terms with their hybrid status._"

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><p><strong>Unavoidable Side-Effects part 1<br>August 4th, 2004**

To the unknowing observer, the three could pass off as being completely unrelated.

Jasmine, with her clear green eyes and orange hair, silky and long, always neat and tidy; Daniel with his scruffy raven hair and soft sky-blue eyes wearing clothes that were at least a size or three too big; and then, there was Dyanna, her hair an auburn-brown colour and seemed to not want to sit straight, her clothes were loose and comfortable and her eyes were a deep oceanic blue.

And yet, related they were, siblings, in fact. There was Jasmine, the oldest, at sixteen years, Daniel, the middle child, at fourteen, and Dyanna, the youngest, at thirteen.

Currently, she was sitting cross-legged on top of her brother's chest of draws, not at all caring about the fact that draws were not meant to be used as chairs. However, it wasn't as if there was anywhere on his floor that wasn't covered in magazines and old space toys and clothes, though. "Titan," she argued, crossing her arms defiantly, lifting her chin slightly in a very stubborn fashion.

"_Europa_," the aforementioned brother emphasised, frowning, waving his hands a bit as if that would somehow prove his point.

If one were to casually walk by, one wouldn't understand such a conversation. However, Sam and Tucker were _not_ casual observers, well accustomed to the unstoppable train that was the sibling rivalry of the D.F.s, and they knew _exactly_ what was going on.

"No human can breathe underwater," protested Dyanna, pointing out what she saw as a fatal flaw in her brother's logic. "Titan is the better choice! Get a tear in your suit and all you'll get is a headache, not a lungful of water!"

"No known creature can survive in a methane environment, including a person," Danny said back, his voice rising, completely set in his views. "Europa's the better choice!"

Yes, Dyanna was (almost) as big of a space nut as her brother, "No-oh, Titan is!"

"Europa!"

"Titan!"

"_Europa_!"

"HEY KIDS!" Jack and Maddie shouted from the basement. You could practically hear the huge grins in their voices.

"**WHAT?**" the two D's chorused in annoyance of being yanked out of their 'happy time'.

"COME DOWN HERE," Maddie replied in barely contained excitement, oblivious to her younger children's ire.

Said children shared a look, then sighed exasperatedly in unison. "COMING," they whined back. Then, looking Sam and Tucker's way (he was playing a game on his omnipresent PDA and she was relaxing, reading a book), Danny asked, "You two coming?"

"Ghost hunters' mad lab," asked Sam, snapping her book shut. "Count me in."

"Naaah," Tucker drew out.

"You don't have a choice," said Dyanna, smiling wickedly.

Once again, both boys were reminded of why they never liked to get on Danny's little sister's bad side. She was freaky and sadistic, and a little bit psychotic; the only one of the three children that actually had anything along those lines, both Jazz and Danny having a need for normalcy. To be honest, she was on par with Sam (Maybe even a little higher—_Maybe_) on the 'scary females not to piss off' list.

Tucker sighed in mock resignation, "Oh, if I haaave to..."

And that's how they ended up in the Fenton family basement, also known as a lab, staring at what appeared to be a large hole in the wall. Dyanna had her hazmat suit on already, she wore it whenever it wasn't a school day, sometimes even after school, because it was just so damn comfortable.

Her hazmat was almost exactly like Danny's black on white, only the gloves and boots went up to her joints and the belt was around the smallest part of her waist instead of around her hips. The colours were also inverted, meaning the gloves, belt and boots were white and the base was black. She'd asked her parents for a new one that was white on aquamarine, but they were waiting until the portal was finished until they gave it to her.

Which meant she was going to be getting it any day now... But now we are getting off topic.

Jack was blathering on about the ghost portal and ghost zone, no one was really listening to him. Except _maybe_ Sam, but she was the only one of them who actually cared.

And before they knew it, they were preparing to turn it on. Jack plugged it in... It was starting up! The motors were whirring...

Then sparks flew out and it fizzled to a halt.

Silence.

"_Well that was an epic fail,_" thought Danny dully.

"We were so sure it was going to work, maybe one of my calculations were wrong," mused Maddie, downtrodden. Jack was openly pouting. They sadly made their way to the stairs, "we'll be back in half an hour, kids. Don't touch anything and be good while we're gone. Don't forget your chores..."

"Okay," called out Dyanna, but her parents were too distracted to notice she had that 'lying though my teeth' tone on, which usually resulted in her doing strange, mischievous or unspeakable things... and more often than not, all at the same time.

They heard the door slam shut and Dyanna grinned wickedly, running into the Portal before anyone could stop her. She pulled off one of the panels, examining the wiring beneath it, double-checking all the connections and feeling for loose wires. Replacing the panel, she moved to the next one.

"A ghost portal," said Sam in wonder. "Just imagine what it would be like if it worked!"

"You've said that like a dozen times since Danny revealed it to us," said Tucker, rolling his eyes, returning to his PDA.

"I haven't said that a dozen times," she objected.

Tucker looked mockingly surprised at her, "Oh, sorry, I meant a dozen times _a day_."

"Cut it out, guys," said Danny, rolling his eyes, but the smile on his face said he found their antics actually quite amusing.

Shrugging it off, Sam pulled out a camera. "Go stand in front on it," she told Danny. He raised an eyebrow at the odd request, but did so anyway.

A bundle of white and black fabric was thrown his way, which upon closer inspection turned out to be his hazmat suit. He held it out gingerly in front of him, as if it was going to explode at any given moment. You could never expect anything less from anything his parents made or owned.

"Smile," said Sam, grinning, taking a picture.

"Ok," said Danny, slightly dizzy from the flash. "We saw the portal; can we get out of here now? Less time with the exploding inventions is a good thing. Besides, it doesn't work, anyway."

"Come on, Danny, a ghost zone? Aren't you curious," drew out Sam. "You gotta check it out!"

"Hmm... I guess maybe a _little_ look..." Danny mused, seriously considering it.

Dyanna frowned as she checked another panel. "_Everything seems like it should be working, but it isn't,_" she thought, frustrated and stumped.

She sat there, crouched, sliding her thumbnail across her bottom lip absently, something she called her "L-face" because she looked and acted a lot like the Death Note Character L (she'd picked up the first volume randomly whilst in Japan for a ghost convention with her mum and had been a fan of the manga since).

And so, like any smart person about to step into a ghost portal (coughyeahrightcough), he slipped on his Hazmat suit, zipping it up.

"Hang on... Jeez, shows how much you wear that thing," chuckled Sam, reaching over and peeling off the sticker of his dad's face off Danny's black on white hazmat suit. "You can't go walking around with that on your chest." She pointed to the offending picture, treating it in much the same way she would treat something pink and frilly.

Danny rolled his eyes and came into the portal. Looking over Dyanna's shoulder, he was about to ask a question when he leaned a hand on the wall... and that small piece of wall gave way.

The 'ON' button.

Dual screams shattered the still air as green electricity surged through the portal chamber charging the people inside with waves of ectoplasm-infused electricity.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was in reality only a minute, five at the most, Danny stumbled out the portal entrance, the portal spewing out a foggy cloud of heavy grey smoke.

But, Danny... he looked... _different_.

_The night's playing up, again,  
>and someone's there,<br>The room is getting colder now,  
>The light swings again<br>And I'm scared, 'cos someone's there,  
>Stop messing with my mind 'cos now I'm... <em>

Sam and Tucker could have sworn the temperature in the room had dropped a bit, the light flickering a moment from the massive power drain.

Danny's skin was more tanned than usual, but he was giving of a strange glow that made him look as if he had a white outline. His hair has been drained of all colour, leaving it a clear white-silver. His eyes were glowing almost as eerily as his body, a neon green that just looked impossible. His jumpsuit had inverted, now white on black. He was panting slightly, as if air came harder to him.

_Trapped in your world where you're burning in my eyes,  
>You're like a shadow that never hides...! <em>

There was a pained groan from inside the smoke and Danny's eyes flashed brighter, almost like there was a yellow light burning at the depth of his irises. He turned swiftly and dragged Dyanna out, she was as changed as he was, just in a different way.

_I'm stuck in parallel worlds, it's something supernatural,  
>It won't let me go...<br>It's paranormal, and no one else believes me,  
>I feel so alone again...<em>

Her auburn hair was now white like Danny's, but with a strong tone of blue, several hairs even looking like they were sapphire in colour. Her eyes were shut tight, but there was a distinct, strong red glow coming from beneath her eyelashes.

Danny didn't seem to notice, falling to his hands and knees, coughing from a mixture of the smoke, pain and the sheer shock of it all.

Tucker and Sam snapped out of their stupor and rushed over to help their friends, though they were surprised to find they were cold, almost icy to the touch.

_Go go,  
>It won't let me...<br>Go go,  
>It won't let me...<em>

"Danny, Dyanna," managed Sam.

"It...just...came on... Was...pretty...shocking," Dyanna managed, chocking. Her hand was to her chest. She couldn't feel her heart beat.

_I'm stuck against the wall, I can't make a move,  
>My heart beat stops,<br>I'm scared of this time 'cos I can't make a line,_

Danny was still having a coughing fit, his body shaking violently each time the bursts of harsh noise and air came through his windpipe. "That hurt," he mumbled.

The now blue-haired girl stumbled to her knees, shivering and struggling to breathe. "I think...I'll...be fine...in a min...ute," she lied, coughing.

_To say once again it just proves to be difficult,  
>I'm feeling nervous but it's nothing that I cannot do,<br>I'm stuck in a dimension where it's hard to breathe,  
>And it's still true, I'm losing my mind, I'm falling,<br>Someone help me, what can I do? _

Looking around, she noticed her hair was blue. Shocked out of remembering to breathe and that her heart was actually supposed to be beating, she dashed over to a nearby computer monitor and yelped, jumping backwards and actually hanging in the air a minute before she crashed to the ground. "W-w-w-w?"

_Trapped in your world where you're burning in my eyes,  
>You're like a shadow that never hides...! <em>

Danny was starting to settle down in his coughing, managing to make it to his feet. "What?"

His sister didn't answer; red-irised eyes wide. He could tell there was something odd with her sister... he felt this nagging feeling that she wasn't supposed to look like that. She pointed forlornly at the monitor.

_I'm stuck in parallel worlds, it's something supernatural,  
>It won't let me go...<br>It's paranormal, and no one else believes me,  
>I feel so alone again...<em>

Confused, he stumbled to have a look, finding a pair of green neon eyes staring back at him.

Shocked by the sudden chance in appearance, he forgot to speak or even breathe (after all, breathing was not actually something ghosts needed to do, so it was easy to forget to do it at all). Staring at his reflection in much the same state as Dyanna, it was one of the non-glowing people in the room's turn to speak.

"I'm sure there's some logical explanation for this," reassured Sam, not sounding at all certain.

And it was at that moment that Danny just decided he'd really like to be invisible... unfortunately, that meant he actually _did_ flicker out of phase...

Three sets of confused eyes looked around for the teen who had apparently just disappeared into thin air, while said teen was still freaking out as to the reason why he could barely see his reflection. As if he wasn't all there... he could see his sister _through_ himself.

Dyanna closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm down, ignoring the phantom pains that prickled all through and over her body. She breathed deeply, calmly, assessing all the many things that had changed and felt different. _Calm down, Fenton, just breathe, just think. Concentrate._

_I'm stuck in parallel worlds, it's something supernatural,  
>It won't let me go...<br>It's paranormal, and no one else believes me,  
>I feel so alone<em>

No heartbeat, the air seemed a little warmer than usual, her body was a pleasant cool temperature. She felt lighter on her feet... but not dizzy or filled with adrenaline, just... mellow. A little freaked out, but mellow. She swatted away the thought of how she looked, and how everything felt wrong. No, she was going to be calm.

_I'm stuck in parallel worlds, it's something supernatural,  
>It won't let me go...<br>It's paranormal, and no one else believes me,  
>I feel so alone again...<em>

It was times like this, however unique this experience was, she was glad she had learned a bit of meditation.

_My heartbeat_, she concentrated on that sound. How it usually pulsed in her ears, how she felt it and heard it, the blood coursing through her veins... and that was the trigger.

Unbeknownst to her, around her waist, formed a ring of white light tinted with a red hue. She tilted her head slightly, eyes closed, as she felt a ..._warmth_... around her waist, like there was sunshine warming that specific area. But... concentrating, concentrating harder on the sound, the warmth swiftly spread upwards. With the warmth came the rings as they changed her appearance.

Hearing her heart beating once more, she dared stealing a peek at the monitor, next to which, a surprised Danny had blinked back into our phase, visible once more. She grinned widely as she looked at her reflection. "IT WORKED," she shouted in triumph, feeling as if she could fly, jumping into the air victoriously.

However, such a feeling triggered the rings, and she found herself floating in the air as a ghost once more. "CURSE YOU," she shouted to no-one in particular, waving her fists before huffing and crossing her arms and legs, not caring that she was floating, yes, _floating_, three feet in the air.

Everyone stared for a moment. But, then again, Dyanna was questionable at the best of times, so they shrugged off this odd behaviour easily. It hurt more to try and understand her, anyway.

"How did you do that...? Change back, I mean," asked Danny, cautious of his sister's odd personality.

She blinked, as if just noticing that she wasn't actually alone in the room. "Focus on your heart beat," she said, uncrossing her legs, standing up easily and walking over, placing a black gloved hand on his shoulder.

He closed his eyes warily. "I don't have one...," he stated, frowning uncertainly.

Dyanna nodded, oblivious to the fact he couldn't see it. "Just focus on the way your heart _should _be beating. The sound of it in your ears, blood rushing through your veins..."

"...kay."

There was a pause, as if the whole world was holding its breath. Watching, waiting.

She let her hand fall off his shoulder, almost as if sensing there was a spark inside him. Not a moment later came the ring, only his was a white and blue one, it split swiftly, and washed over him, changing him back to the human that was Daniel Fenton.

There was a clear cloud of relief hanging in the air as Danny checked himself in the monitor, grinning as he found himself human again.

A pleasant silence hung for a few seconds before Dyanna grinned and said, "Well that was exciting!"

Everyone shot her incredulous looks.

Her grin dropped, looking honestly stumped. "What?"

And for some reason, they all managed to laugh at the youngest's expense. She glared at them all, but that just made them laugh even harder.

Her glare dropped, and she found it in herself to join in the merriment.

I mean, what the hell, right?


	2. Episode 01: Unavoidable SideEffects 2

**Sometimes, they just don't tell you the whole truth, because there's more than one to tell. A different take on the story of Danny Phantom, from the beginning of the beginning.**

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><p>AN: Dyanna's music that plays, but is not mentioned, is actually _Rain_ by _Breaking Benjamin_ and other assorted songs from _Breaking Benjamin_'s album _We Are Not Alone_. It's what I was listening to when I wrote that scene... :3

Damn I like that band...

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><p><strong><span>Retaken<span>  
>Episode One: Unavoidable Side-Effects<strong>

Episode Summary: "_Dyanna and Danny Fenton are thirteen/fourteen year olds who are pretty average at first, until an accident causes them to receive ghost powers! The powers don't work at all well, always acting up, and the two are forced to deal with the side-effects... as well as come to terms with their hybrid status._"

* * *

><p><strong>Unavoidable Side-Effects part 2<br>August 4th, 2004**

Needless to say, when their parents came home, they just gave tight-lipped smiles and said that nothing at all exciting happened while they were out... the event not forgotten, far from it, but how the hell do you tell your parents you were floating, becoming invisible and _glowing_ like the amazing human light bulbs?

Can't answer? Neither could the D.F.s.

But don't get me wrong, they were both thoroughly traumatized by the whole shebang; they just hid it in the dark recesses of their minds. Weird stuff happened all the time in their house, sure, but... _never_ anything quite like _that_...

Tucker and Sam had gone home soon after and Danny had managed to get himself stuck in a wall, which had required some careful manoeuvring to stop their parents from noticing. Jazz was away at the library or something (the siblings hadn't bothered with learning the destination) so they didn't have to worry about her until much later... Jazz tended to linger when out of the house.

After the wall incident, Dyanna has dragged Danny into her room and told him to stay nearby. He couldn't be bothered with putting up a fight, so that was that and he was sitting in the room, doing some homework out of pure boredom.

The horror.

Of course, every time he'd get agitated, the pencil would go through his hand, but that was beside the point.

Dyanna had also put on some music to cover up the small strings of swearing and the beeps from one of her many little mechanical devices she had littered around her room. She was doing a bit of "testing", recording the event and hiding all the information on a flash drive she kept hidden on a necklace under her clothes.

He didn't pretend to understand her, but this actually made some sort of sense. Key word there; _some._

The pencil fell through his hand for the hundredth time (or so it seemed), agitated, he stomped his foot. What was unexpected though, was that this caused his body to go intangible for long enough that he fell through his chair. He swore.

It hurt his pride even more when his sister laughed at his expense.

He swore again, then sat up, rubbing the back of his head, which had hit the floor only a moment after his backside. "These... symptoms... are really annoying," he grumbled.

Dyanna had her L-face on again, crouching on her computer chair, biting her fingernail absently. "I don't think they are symptoms." Ignoring the look she was getting she continued, "They _can _be controlled. Symptoms can't."

"I don't think this bloody counts as being able to control them," said Danny agitatedly as he held up his arm, which couldn't decide if it wanted to be visible or not, so it was _ever so conveniently_ switching between the two every few seconds.

Dyanna rolled her eyes.

Danny was about to bite out a snarky remark, but his blue-eyed sister cut him off. "Haven't you noticed the difference between us," she said calmly.

"What," he blurted, taken aback.

She sighed, rubbing her shadowed eye. "Think, Danny. I'm not having as many slip ups as you. Why?"

"Because you're evil," he offered, grinning as she rolled her eyes again.

"Thank you for that input," she deadpanned. "No, I'm having less trouble because I'm in a calm environment right now. That's partially why I brought you in here, I had a theory and I couldn't be bothered to test it out myself, but you've done fine already."

Danny's eye twitched. His sister was really quite evil. There was a green tint over his vision but he barely noticed. He was annoyed at her calm deception. No, annoyed was too calm a word... more like, royally pissed.

She continued, paying close attention to the small spike in the air that told her he was close to transforming. "Your anger causes you to transform," she mused. "Your frustration, wanting to get away, the pencil fell out of your hand. Wanting to be out of there, wanting to disappear, _embarrassment_, makes you want to go invisible. Happiness or fear makes you want to fly, for joy or for fleeing. I've already worked all this out by observation."

He wanted to object, to tell her she was wrong, but he couldn't find the slightest flaw in her statement. He could practically feel the amused twinkle in her eye boring into his soul. His face flushed red slightly in embarrassment and anger merged together.

"Ok, ok, I'll stop torturing you now," she sniggered, giving a rather fangy grin. "I know I'm going to have trouble with invisibility and intangibility at school, keep a close eye out for your vision going green, it's a sure sign your eyes are glowing." He blinked, realising this applied to right now, and closed his eyes and tried to calm down.

"So you figured out anything else in that scheming little mind of yours," he asked casually, waiting until he felt that there was no longer any green glow to his eyes before opening them.

"Um... try not to get to mad, pay attention in class so you don't go intangible or invisible when someone's looking, I'll be doing the same aaand..." she bit her lip. "I have a theory... but I need to run some tests before I can tell you." She glanced out the window. "Jazz should be home soon..."

Danny took the hint, grabbing his homework and opening the door to leave, but was paused when he heard a quiet two words uttered from her. She sounded so haunted as she said it... "Be careful... I hope I'm wrong."

He closed the door quietly, looking down.

If she was actually hoping to be wrong, he could be certain he really wasn't going to like it.

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><p><em>I had been lying through my teeth. I was barely managing to act calm at all! My mind is a jumbled mess, half-thoughts and trains of thought all over the place, crashing or derailing with alarming frequency. It's a miracle I can think straight at all!<em>

_Jazz is always trying to 'help' me. But I'm stubborn, I guess... I know I can't be helped._

_My theory... our parents had drilled it into us from before we could even talk properly. 'What powers do all ghosts have?' they'd ask._

_"Intangibility, Invisibility and Flight," I muttered under my breath bitterly, my eyes glowing red as I stared out the window. The sky never looked more alluring... I'd had those small moments of freedom down in the lab. Floating. Weightless. But in complete control._

_It was amazing._

_I glanced at my computer. There was only one way I could prove my theory._

_Only one way._

* * *

><p>When the explosion sounded, everyone in the house came running to Dyanna's room. Sure, she had things exploding in there all the time, but nothing with <em>that<em> kind of repercussion power.

The door swinging open to find everything coated in a thin layer of ashy dust. She had her hand hidden under her shirt, pretending to rub her ribs, but Danny could clearly see that it was there because it had been hurt in the blast.

Coughing into her arm she grinned sheepishly. "Um... don't mix ectoplasm with a strong electric charge?"

Their mom made sure she was fine, and insisted on seeing her arm, but she blatantly refused. Unhappy, but having no choice but to wither under her daughter's stubbornness, she left the room along with Jack. Jazz hung in the door and Danny just raised an eyebrow.

Waiting until she heard the sound of their parents go downstairs to the basement, Dyanna letting out a small whimper of pain as she brought out her hand from under her shirt. It was covered in red blotches and black, grey and red dust. "I need to go wash this," she mumbled. "Excuse me. Enjoy the hyperactive glee of our parents."

Not a moment after she said that, there was shouts of, "THE PORTAL'S WORKING!" from the basement. Both Danny and Jazz looked downstairs when they head this, but when they looked back into Dyanna's room she was already gone.

Danny looked down the hall to see her, partially invisible, cradling her hand as she trudged towards the bathroom, looking rather distracted or horrified, or maybe both. You could never tell.

If only he knew how right he was. All her worries and suspicions confirmed, she was definitely both of those things.

Running the cold water over her hand, she was thoroughly disturbed with the way her burns were healing before her eyes, the red fading back to her usual pale skin colour.

She dried her hands, the fact they were shaking slightly not escaping her notice.

White rings giving off a red glow formed around her waist as she distractedly was thinking of her ghostly experience just a while ago, the fact she'd been floating, the eyes, the glow... it was all so surreal...

She noticed the chill spread up her form as the rings quickly changed her, she didn't see the glow because she'd closed her eyes, which only meant she'd been even more surprised when she looked in the mirror to see those unearthly red eyes glowing back at her.

Fighting back the urge to shiver, she took a deep breath and held it. Looking away from those red eyes, into the basin instead, she felt even more disturbed as her other senses picked up now that one was inactive... Curious, she closed her eyes, her hearing and sense of touch picking up even further. She could hear four heartbeats... the electrical hum of everything in the building. She hissed softly at the sharp noise in her ears, something that was undeniably irksome. Four sets of people breathing; voices; She could hear the excited, if rather distorted, voices of her parents downstairs.

She opened her eyes again and breathed out, all too aware of the fact she'd held her breath for nearly five minutes. Her senses, thankfully, returned to almost normal levels. Looking outside she frowned, it was getting dark.

Dyanna absently wondered what it would be like up there.

Shaking her thoughts off with a sharp jerk of the head, she growled under her breath. No! No way! You're staying down here. On the ground. Where people belong.

_But aren't I always going on about how we should be reaching for the stars?_

Growling at her own mind, she looked up at the sky longingly. Just a little look... just a few minutes... no one'd notice... no one'd care... no one'd know...

And without another thought on the matter, she floated into the air, intangibly shooting up into the sky.

Looking down absently, she noted how her house looked different from the sky.

A wide, goofy grin spread across her features as she fully realised what she was doing. She was _FLYING! _As in, _FLOATING_. In the _AIR_. Above her _HOUSE_!

She let out a small, giddy, laugh, doing a backwards loop.

It was like not being tied down by gravity at all, like being able to sever all her ties to the ground. To be _free_. Flying further into the sky she did something crazy; whether it was the adrenalin or curiosity didn't matter. It was a crazy, reckless thing to do.

She let go of the feeling, and plummeted head-first towards the ground, not even bothering to go invisible as she fell like a giant, glowing dart.

And, just at the last moment, she pulled up, shooting off into the star-lit sky once again.

Laughing with a joy she'd never felt before, she did another loop, lounging back on the thin air, feeling the air currents around her.

Never before had she felt so free.

Part ghost or not, this was something that was worth the world.

* * *

><p>Danny had trouble trying to get to sleep that night, and when sleep finally managed to overcome him, he woke up to find himself lying on the ceiling instead of his bed, following the realisation, he panicked, remembering gravity was meant to go the other way, and crashed, falling onto the floor right <em>next to<em> his bed.

Sure, because he couldn't land on the cushiony mattress could he? Was that really too much to ask for?

Picking himself up from the ground he groggily managed to remember that falling from one's ceiling to the floor should probably have hurt more than it did, but he wasn't going to be complaining. Not when the alternative was a lot of nicks and bruises. Broken bones was probably pushing it, but you never know.

How many people wake up on their ceiling? I mean, really. It's not like there's been many instances of such things happening, if any.

_Well what do you know, now you're even more of a freak,_ Danny mused, rolling his eyes, rubbing his sore bruised head. Looking out the window he let out a long groan—it wasn't even proper daylight yet! He then got a cunning grin on his face, grabbing his cellphone.

"If I'm up this early," he muttered, dialling a number, "You're up too, Tuck." He blinked. "Huh, looks like Dan's rubbing off on me."

'Whaaaaat,' came the groggy voice of Tucker at the other end.

"Hi," Danny chirped, grinning. "If I'm up, you're up!"

'Danny? What are you doing up THIS EARLY!' there was a pause for a moan. 'It's not even DAYLIGHT yet...'

"Uh... I fell out of bed. Pretty majorly. I'll explain later. Bye!"

Tucker was obviously going to tell Danny _exactly_ what he thought on that matter, but Danny hung up on him.

And promptly burst out in a fit of barely suppressed giggles—though he would swear on his life ever afterwards that it was just "muffled chuckling". A curious head poked around his doorway and she simply stated. "That was mean." And before Danny could object, she smiled slightly with her eyes closed, flashing a peace sign. "Well Done."

Danny's eye twitched as his sister laughed at him, making a swift retreat.

He then swore loudly as his whole body went invisible, Dyanna laughing even louder.

* * *

><p>Shortly after Dyanna's escape she had simply sat down on her computer chair, motionless. Dead, lifeless almost in the way she sat there blankly staring at the wall.<p>

But inside her, in her mind, everything was buzzing with activity. Thoughts buzzing left, right and center, running about like headless chickens.

This wasn't unusual.

It was just the way she was built.

She didn't know how long she sat there, didn't care. She was somehow a ghost, or at least partly.

Did that mean she was dead?

And if her parents were to be believed... evil?

She shuddered at the thought, unwillingly going invisible. Despite what her brother and friends quipped, being truly _evil_ was something she couldn't do. She hated the thought.

To end the life of another's being, for one... killing fictional beings was ok, but the death of an actual _person_? Even an _animal_ at her hands... made her more afraid than anything else in the world, even her own death.

Not that the latter seemed very important _now_, seeing as she was... well...

She sighed, before she, irritated in the realisation, noticed she wasn't able to _stop_ being invisible. Swearing lightly, a simple muttering of, 'bloody hell,' she crossed her arms in a huff, her vision going red. "Smashing," she said sarcastically, swinging a foot backwards and forth.

* * *

><p>"Bye mom, bye dad, Danny... Jazz," shouted Dyanna, now properly and fully in the right phase of light, as she raced out of the house, scooting around Jazz who was just about to head downstairs.<p>

"What's up with her," asked Jack, looking around the corner holding some kind of Fenton weapon.

Jazz rolled her eyes. "Gee, I _wonder_," she said sarcastically.

Speeding down the sidewalk, fast enough to feel as if flying, ran Dyanna, in the almost complete opposite direction from Casper High.

Dyanna quickly pulled out her phone while she was out of sight of her house and swiftly dialled in a number she knew as well as her own name. Holding the device to her ear, she waited for them to pick up.

'Hello,' asked a voice from the other end of the line

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry I didn't call you yesterday," said Dyanna in a rush.

There was a chuckle, 'I think I'll be fine, Dan.'

"My parents finished the ghost portal yesterday," said Dyanna. "It malfunctioned and now... I have to show you something. Can't talk in case of a bugged line," Dyanna blandly tacked on at the end. She never did trust cell phones.

He couldn't actually tell if she was being serious or not. 'Uuum... ok? Meet at the usual place?'

"Yeah," she confirmed. "See you soon."

'Ok. Bye.'

He hung up, Dyanna quickly following suit.

The wind whipped her hair up, calming her nerves. She wished she could be up in it again, in the calm serenity that was the sky. Her eyes flashed open. No. Focus.

_Thinking like that will cause your powers to act up,_ she scolded.

She slowed down, turning a corner, her foot going intangible briefly, causing her to trip... and crash right into somebody tall, lanky and tanned.

Blinking at the person who she knocked over, she grinned widely, "Adolph!"

"Ow," he commented. "Can you get off?"

Her grin grew sheepish as she rolled off him, getting to her feet and holding a hand out to help him up. Looking at her hand oddly, he took it and got to his feet. Straightening up, Adolph rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head, the light making his maroon-dyed, black-streaked hair sparkle slightly.

"Look where you're going much," he teased, an amused glint in his hazel eyes.

This was swiftly rewarded with a sharp punch to his shoulder. "Ow! Ok, I asked for that one," he winced. "So what was this thing you needed to talk about?"

"Not here," said Dyanna, looking around briefly. "Too many people. And it's kinda weird." She inclined her head towards the old abandoned office building off to their left with her head. "Walk and talk."

Adolph shrugged. "Fine with me," he said, tucking his hands into his faded dark red jean pockets.

Walking down the sunbathed streets, they looked like polar opposites. Dyanna's dark shadowed eyes and pale pallor, Adolph's tan, her vibrant blue eyes, his dark hazel ones. Even their clothes had sharp differences; the most prominent being the fact hers were mostly blue and his were mostly red... And yet, they were the best of friends. Opposites attract, a strange, yet true, fact.

"So, you know my parents are ghost hunters," she began listing off facts. "You know they were building a ghost portal. And you know that it malfunctioned. And you know that odd things happen when you mix ectoplasm with electrical surges..."

Adolph simply nodded, knowing that giving a verbal response would probably cut her off from whatever she was trying to say.

They slipped into the building, one of their old favourite haunts (since no one could be bothered taking the building down). No one ever found them there, oddly enough. "Well, it all happened when the parents finished the portal," she explained, arms wide, crouching on top of a fallen support bar.

Seeing she was waiting for him to sit, Adolph quickly complied before she lost the nerve to tell him whatever it was she was getting at. Nodding to herself slightly, she continues on, "So they called us down to the lab, showed us the portal, explained how it worked and yadda, yadda, yah..."

Dyanna took a deep breath, continuing on, almost taking no room to slip in a breath inside her squished sentences. "They turned it on and it didn't work, so they left the house in a sulk. I wanted to know what was wrong, and I went into the portal chamber." She either ignored or didn't notice her friend's raised eyebrow. "So in I went, and I poked around, had a look, but nothing was obviously wrong..."

Her voice had gotten a little detached now. "And then Danny accidently pressed the on button... and, well, it turned on with me in it. I didn't get teleported, thankfully, but I did get zapped. With ectoplasm and electricity." She stood up, "And when I came out, I looked like _this_..."

She called up the transformation rings quickly, making them rush up and down her person before there could be a negative reaction.

And all of a sudden it wasn't Dyanna the girl who was standing before him, but Dyanna the ghost.


	3. Episode 01: Unavoidable SideEffects 3

**Sometimes, they just don't tell you the whole truth, because there's more than one to tell. A different take on the story of Danny Phantom, from the beginning of the beginning.**

* * *

><p>AN: Guess what. Dyanna's nickname is Dan. Easier to write and remember than Dyan, but it's pronounced the same. So that's where it comes from.

And... random fact: Hitler's first name is Adolf! -Not in any way relevant to this story or Adolph's character-

Oh, and as much as I would like it to be so (it would make an awesome story plot), Dyanna isn't actually going insane down there in that scene where she thinks she's going crazy, so...

* * *

><p><strong><span>Retaken<span>  
>Episode One: Unavoidable Side-Effects<strong>

Episode Summary: "_Dyanna and Danny Fenton are thirteen/fourteen year olds who are pretty average at first, until an accident causes them to receive ghost powers! The powers don't work at all well, always acting up, and the two are forced to deal with the side-effects... as well as come to terms with their hybrid status._"

* * *

><p><strong>Unavoidable Side-Effects part 3<br>August 5th, 2004**

It had been about half an hour after Dyanna's little surprise reveal. Apart from the whole awkward... "You're glowing." "Yep." "And not breathing." "Yep." "That's weird." "Yep." conversation which ensued, and was repeated about five times in a row, he ended up not freaking out _too_ majorly...

She just got bumped up on the 'creepy' scale a little.

And so, after a short conversation on ghost powers, after which Dan had accidently gone and turned invisible, they were now on their way to school.

Normal, boring, uneventful school.

It all seemed so... normal.

He could, and for a moment _did_, actually forget that his best friend was now mysteriously half dead.

Said half-ghost was mouthing the words to her favourite song, _Had Enough_ by _Breaking Benjamin_ as she listened to its strangely calming tune on her mp3. Adolph didn't really understand how rock could be considered calming in any way shape or form, but he didn't have to... it wasn't him listening to it.

Dyanna swayed slightly to the song, her eyes closed, letting her senses reach out again to warn her of incoming dangers.

_...You had to have it all,  
>Well, have you had enough,<br>You greedy little bastard, you,  
>Get what you deserve,<br>When all is said and done,  
>I will be the one,<br>To leave you in your misery and hate what you've become..._

Adolph winced as school came into sight, gently nudging Dyanna. She blinked and looked around as if there was something coming.

She felt a prickle in the air, a sense of foreboding...

Danger? Couldn't be...

Yet she had this strange, painful, twitch of her back muscles that DEFINITELY hadn't been there before. Her answer was quickly given, however, as a glowing green panther, looking like it was made entirely of ectoplasm, arose from the tar, roaring at the humans it saw, smashing the bonnet of a passing car and tearing off the roof with its teeth.

The driver, a man in is late forties, dressed in a cheap beige business suit, screamed like a little girl, and promptly fainted.

Dan would have laughed had she not been overcome with a strange kind of anger...

'No, no, this is MY land,' she wanted to scream at it _so bad..._ but she didn't, instead turning to Adolph. "I'll catch up," she said, and quickly ducked into the alleyway, observing her surroundings carefully, calling up the rings and transforming. It felt different than before, like her body was flaring with barely contained anger... without the anger, and she vaguely wondered what happened to her other form's clothes.

The twitch got worse as she flew behind the ghostly feline, but faded after she delivering a sharp punch to its back, right between the shoulders. It turned away from the people it was attacking and roared at its assailant. Its red eyes blazed in wild, mindless fury.

Dyanna really wanted to roar back, but for two reasons she didn't; one, she didn't know how, and two, that would be weird. And she was full up on weird for the time being, so she settled for a low, menacing, growl, her irises growing darker around the rims and brighter in the cores. _Guess what? I can do that too!_

The creature was acting purely on instinct, but Dan knew she was too. She wasn't a fighter! Well, her mom had taught her the basics, but that was something entirely different... However, her thoughts were rudely interrupted.

It pounced at her, but she dodged to the side swiftly, settling into a crouch in mid-air before she grabbed its tail and swung it around, throwing it into the air, speeding up beside it.

But, before it could recover, she hit it with a sharp, downwards swoop of a kick to its mid-back, hurling it toward the ground with a pained yowling.

It hit rock-bottom with a loud crack, the tar splitting with a huge spider-web shape where it landed. Acting on some sudden impulse, as strange as all the rest, Dan clenched her fists in what she hoped was a menacing pose, drawing one back as if she was about to deliver a punch. She felt a pain in her arm, veins seemingly getting hotter and her hand burning painfully from some kind of pressure inside her arm that she had no idea what to do with.

Like that feeling you get when you hang upside-down on the monkey bars and all the blood rushes to your head, only... this was in her arm.

Apparently, whatever she was doing worked, as the feline quickly turned invisible and made a hasty escape, but not after hissing at Dan to show it wasn't at all happy with its defeat.

Filled with a strange sense of victory, unlike anything else she'd felt before, Dyanna invisibly went back to the alley and changed back, coming out and playing the part of a freaked-out bystander.

Adolph raised an eyebrow. "I take it... that was a ghost?"

"Yup," chirruped Dyanna. "Never actually seen one before... present company excluded, of course."

"You're acting very calm about this," said Adolph.

Dyanna looked at him with an odd expression and raised eyebrow. "Am I supposed to act any differently? How about OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" She grabbed his shirt and shook it. She let go and continued, "What good would _that_ do?"

Adolph shook his head. "Nevermind."

Dan still looked just as confused as before, even more so. "Humans," she said at last, shrugging it off.

* * *

><p>Reaching school, they had about ten minutes before the bell signalled start of classes. Spotting her brother, Dan quickly turned to Adolph, putting a hand on his chest to indicate 'wait here'. "One moment..."<p>

She ran to Danny and said quickly, "I told Adolph _I _was the only one to get zapped by the portal. If you want him to know about you, that's your choice."

"Ok," said Danny, blinking. "How'd he take it?"

"He took it alright. I think it was the surprise of it, though. I kind of sprung it on him." She shrugged. "Anyway, I have some findings I'd like to share later. Lunch, maybe."

And without another word, his oddball of a relative was off again. Closing his locker he watched as she grinned and talked with Adolph. Danny fixed the part German with a suspicious look; the guy was nice enough, but he was dating his little sister. He had every right to be protective.

Looking away, he was suddenly greeted by the looming shadow of none other than his least favourite person in the school... Dash.

* * *

><p>Lunch time came without any serious incident. Sure, Danny had <em>somehow<em> managed to slip out of Dash's grasp and _somehow_ managed to disappear in a dead end, but apart from that no one had really noticed their... abnormal abilities.

Yet.

Making her way with a clumsy grace to the table where Danny and co. were seated, she came and set herself down next to Adolph.

"I have made a discovery," said Dan simply. "I like the smell of blood." Adolph made a show of scooting further away from her, and she poked her tongue out at him childishly in response.

"What were you _really _going to say," said Danny, rolling his eyes.

"Oh?" she blinked. "Oh, right... Earlier, we saw a real ghost. I had this weird pain in my back before it appeared... like some kind of ghost sense. Anyway, that wasn't the point... I think I know what happened with the portal." And, not allowing them time to make a comment. "I'm part ghost."

There was quiet from them all, the background noise of the cafeteria the only sound in the sudden still of the table.

"Cool," said Sam, taking a drink.

"Is there... any way you could be wrong," asked Danny, knowing this applied to him as well. He obviously had told Sam and Tucker about Adolph being out of the loop as they didn't show any extra surprise at Dyanna leaving Danny out of her statement.

She sighed, shaking her head. "Impossible. I ran a DNA scan. There's no mistake, ectoplasm has been fused to the very molecules. Before the DNA scan, I shot myself with an ecto-ray gun I made. It caused an explosion when it hit, because I accidently fired another shot off accidently and exploded one of my work in progress devices. The explosion covered everything in soot, but the first shot itself caused my hand to be burned. Badly. And that was just in human form."

Noticing her brother's look, she said, "What powers do all ghosts have?"

"Intangibility, invisibility and flight," he responded automatically. Then he sighed, "So... you can't figure out any other explanation?"

"Well, _that_ or we're trapped in the Matrix... or _a_ Matrix. Or something," she said nonchalantly, then looked to the sky suspiciously. "Ever get the feeling you're getting... you know... _watched_?" Her thought process suddenly changing tracks she blurted, "Hey, want to go see if there's anything interesting on at the cinemas? I heard there's a new movie on haunted houses... we could laugh at how much they got the ghosts wrong!"

Tucker laughed, then seeing everyone's eyes turn to him he pointed at his PDA. "Just flattened the Great Overlord of All Things Evil... for the _twelfth time_! He was all 'You won't beat me!' then I beat him in three seconds flat! Take that, Goatee!"

That was when he looked up; everyone was staring at him, except for... "Hey, where'd Dan go?"

* * *

><p>It wasn't Tucker's fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. She'd just had felt so... claustrophobic in there. The buzz of talk, the smell of all that 'food'. It made her sick. She never liked it. But even less now...<p>

She needed to get away...

So she did. Now she was sitting on the roof, contemplating going for another fly.

Dan had felt freer than ever. Like she could do anything, be anything. Sure, that wasn't completely true... But there was no other word for it. That feeling.

She chuckled softly.

It was to die for.

Have to agree with you there, said a voice from behind her. Snapping around, eyes wide, she came face to face with... nothing.

There was no one there.

"What the hell," she breathed. Was she going crazy?

There was no response.

Taking a deep breath, she looked around again, switching phase. If there was an invisible ghost, she'd see them.

But again, there was nothing there.

Swallowing softly, she backed away a few steps, and left the rooftop.

* * *

><p>Next class, Adolph and Danny both noticed that Dyanna was a bit paler than usual. Not only that, but Danny and Dyanna were teamed in science class. Hooray for everyone else... but did not bode well for the two of them. Want to know why?<p>

SMASH!

Danny winced as he dropped the third beaker today; science wasn't his favourite subject. At all.

It really wasn't _his _fault that he kept dropping the glass vials... it wasn't like he could control his intangibility at all!

But, he couldn't exactly explain that to his teacher, could he?

So Detention for him it was.

Forget Mondays, he was beginning to hate Thursdays a lot more.

And he didn't know if this made it better or worse, but Adolph _accidently_ on purpose got himself a detention as well.

By the end of the hour, every single one of them had detention after school.

But Dyanna's wasn't on purpose, or even accidently on purpose... as time went by she just seemed to get more and more detached into her thoughts; at the end of the next class she almost punched Danny for speaking to her, though she apologized profusely afterwards.

Something wasn't right with her.

And he was determined to find out exactly what it was.

* * *

><p><em>Adolph and I used to be great friends, back before he met my sister Dan. <em>

_We met in preschool, this was before I even met Tucker, and I was completely new to the place. He came up to me and showed me around, even though he was a bit older than me and mostly everyone else his age wanted nothing to do with anyone younger than them because they were "big kids now"._

_It was when we came to my house for a play that he met my sister, and that was a day I'll never forget. It was honestly the funniest thing I ever saw._

_My silly three-year-old little sister chased him around the whole house with a spray bottle of neon green paint she claimed was ghost repellent (or 'reppellellellenent' as she called it at the time), screaming at the top of her lungs, "MOM! DAD! GHOST! GHOST!"_

_It took what seemed like _hours_ to calm her (and my riled up dad) down enough to explain he was a kid like me. Heh. Good times._

_But some time in third grade was when I met Tucker. Adolph and I grew apart when he started hanging out with Dan (and though you wouldn't believe it now, Star and Dan were actually friends back then) at school more often, and she couldn't stand it that Tucker knew so much more about programming. It was a while ago now, but I think it was just her being suspicious of unfamiliar humans... The two get along just fine now._

_Then a couple of years ago, Adolph's mom died. If it wasn't for him convincing his aunt to let him stay in Amity, they would have left for good. I'm glad he stayed though, he's always been a great person to have around._

_Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if he'd left. Would anything be different?_

_But at the moment, that's the least of my worries..._

_Those words... '_I'm part ghost._' '_I ran a DNA scan. There's no mistake, ectoplasm's been fused to the very molecules._'_

_Dan was like Jazz; being wrong was rare. She tended to think things through many times over; she was paranoid like that. Jazz says intense paranoia like that can come from a highly traumatic event, but... Dan hasn't had anything like that happen to her. Sure, she's blown a few things up and been wrong before, but nothing as traumatic as necessary for _that_._

_If she's only just been like that the past day or so, I'd blame it on the ghost portal... but she's been like that forever._

_But being part ghost... how is that possible? Did that mean that ghosts weren't all evil? I really didn't feel evil._

_Or was it that all ghosts _are _evil, and I just don't feel that because I'm part human?_

_Crappit. My head hurts now..._

_Though, on the other hand, that _could _just be because of how hard Dash just shoved me into my locker. Payback for earlier, I guess._

_...not that he ever really needs a reason._


	4. Episode 01: Unavoidable SideEffects 4

**Sometimes, they just don't tell you the whole truth, because there's more than one to tell. A different take on the story of Danny Phantom, from the beginning of the beginning.**

* * *

><p>AN: I want to say thanks to all the people reading this.

And for the record, I would also like people to know that this isn't going to be majorly "Dyanna-centric"... I'm just getting the introductions out of the way before we can get onto the real action. I think, a lot of the time, she will be on the sidelines.

I HATED WRITING THIS CHAPTER!

It just didn't want to be written... but when I sat down yesterday and today and the words just... _came_.

Flowed from my fingertips and onto the page. It was like magic.

Good grief I love writing...

AND FINALLY WE GET SOME RANDOM ACTION!

I don't like asking... but reviews are always nice *puppy dog eyes*

* * *

><p><strong><span>Retaken<span>  
>Episode One: Unavoidable Side-Effects<strong>

Episode Summary: "_Dyanna and Danny Fenton are thirteen/fourteen year olds who are pretty average at first, until an accident causes them to receive ghost powers! The powers don't work at all well, always acting up, and the two are forced to deal with the side-effects... as well as come to terms with their hybrid status._"

* * *

><p><strong>Unavoidable Side-Effects part 4<br>August 5th, 2004**

_I, Dyanna Elizabeth Moria Fenton._

_Jack Charles Fenton and Madison Joanna Fenton's third kid._

Me_._

Eighth _youngest ghost hunting inventor in the States. (26th in the modern world)_

_Had gotten detention._

Detention_!_

_And it wasn't even on _purpose_!_

**What was I thinking?**

_Oh, right... I wasn't._

_Damn._

* * *

><p>The day went by like a blur. Literally. Danny was so tired his eyelids were drooping and his eyes were beginning to cloud over. What kind of reasonable person wakes up THAT early, anyway?<p>

All of them had Trigonometry next. The five of them got there early, and their teacher wasn't there yet.

There was a clatter and the skidding of sneakers and Dan went pale as a sheet upon hearing THAT voice. She grabbed Adolph and hid behind him with a small squeak. "DDDDYANNNAA!" sung a particularly strange voice, sounding almost like it could belong to an opera singer, only it was a bit too low.

Suddenly the Bright Bubble-gum-pink-haired wonder Cadence stampeded into the room, her green eyes gleaming, her hair being eye-blinding, her black, acid green and white dress sticking out like a sore thumb. As did her lace-up sneakers that went halfway up her lower leg, skin-tight acid pink jeans and just about everything else about her. How someone her size (anorexic-class skinny, and about four inches shorter than Danny) manages to make so much noise is something that no one knows, and probably never will.

"I'm sorry I arrived to school late," she sung in a chipper tone, under the illusion that Dan actually cared. "I had to get my cast taken off!" (Dan hadn't been directly responsible for that—Honest! _Anyone_ could break an arm falling from _that_ high up...)

"Save me," whimpered Dan softly before Cadence ran over and tried to give Dan a huge crushing hug. Dan quickly dove under the table, and everyone present just stood back and watched the show. They'd all been disappointed when Cadence didn't come to school that morning. Seeing the tiny girl, the only person that actually freaked Dan out, try and chase down Dan for a kiss or hug or whatever was the highlight of many a day.

Dan turned over tables, skidded under chairs, and even contemplated running out the window in order to evade the crazy ("in love" as Cadence would say) girl. People who had just gotten to class were trying to hide their amusement... just in case Dan saw and decided to get revenge later.

There'd been a _nasty_ incident with some very embarrassing photos, ectoplasm, sausages, a poodle and some bright pink nail polish, lipstick and permanent marker the last time someone had laughed at Dan.

It wasn't a pretty sight... The victim needed therapy for six months afterwards, and hasn't been back to school since.

Next, the door opened and Dan thankfully hid behind the purple tuxedo-wearing teacher, Mr Scotts, who had to cough back a laugh before he could proceed to tell Cadence off for antagonising one of his students, though he didn't let Dan off the hook that easily either (he didn't want to show favouritism, after all). All Dan got was a stern talk about not messing up the classroom next time, instead taking it to the hall.

Dan muttered a sincere thanks, then quickly went back to her seat... after picking it up and retrieving her table (which was somehow halfway out the window).

"Now that the excitement's over, please open your textbooks to page 239," said Mr Scotts.

Some of the other students hid groans, others just came out with it. If only the rest of the day would be that eventful...

Before long, the school day was coming to a close...

Dan was turning out in detention. Couldn't blame her. No one else seemed to be paying attention, anyway. Adolph appeared to be writing limericks in German on little paper planes with whatever random writing device he got his hands on. Sam was deep in thought, possibly about ghosts. Tucker was trying to think of ways to use his PDA without getting caught. Spike was in the back, for some reason or another (he usually was). An A-Lister Danny knew only a little, Sima... Simane? No, that wasn't right. She was sitting in the front looking deeply put out. During practice, it was said she started a huge catfight. Someone joked they almost needed crowbars to separate them.

Danny stretched inconspicuously and yawned behind his hand. The day was long and he was... _THIS_ close to falling asleep...

What seemed like an eternity later—but wasn't! Le gaspeth...—they were FINALLY let out for end of school-ness.

Dan immediately grabbed her bag and set off at a run, not even saying goodbye.

Adolph muttered something about food, and also disappeared.

Sam yawned, stretching as they left the school. Danny noticed Dan wasn't going home, and the three made quick plans to call each other later. When that was over, Danny swiftly bolted after her.

Minutes of pointless running and it became apparent he had lost her completely.

He sighed in irritation, but his stubbornness prevented him from turning back. He began to wander.

* * *

><p>Dan felt sick.<p>

It was both amazing, and sickening.

She had gone to the run-down building she and Apollo liked to haunt, and turned into a ghost privately in order to get some study done. Yes, study. She wanted to know all she could about what she was.

Glowing green ectoplasm dripped down her arm. She scrunched her nose, quickly bandaging the wound on her arm.

She'd suspected that her blood would be ectoplasm. It wasn't called a _ghost_ form for nothing.

Then a thought hit her.

Her parents had never seen, or even _touched_ a ghost before, while she'd seen and touched _three_. Admittedly, two of those were half ghosts and one of them was her. But, anyway, they would probably _kill_ to be in the position she was in now—with a ghost to study!

She grinned, the possibilities were astounding. Just think! Finally she'd be able to study ghosts for real, not just playing about looking through _theories_ wondering what sounded likely.

This was ectological _history_ in the making! If ghosts could be proven real, then no one would laugh at ghost hunters ever again... She could be an actual Ectologist! The prospect made her giddy... _and_ float a few feet off the ground.

Minutes passed in silence, before Dan got the odd twitch in her back again. It wasn't as strong as last time. Red eyes darted around suspiciously. There was a clatter outside and she twisted around before dropping back to the ground with a frown.

And in that moment she found herself in a rather odd spot... standing on the wall as if it was the ground... like the world had fallen on its side just for her. Her previous worries were completely forgotten due to this unforseen distraction.

"Whoa," she exclaimed, blinking owlishly. "I did _not_ know I could do that."

Then she paused, though it was more like an abrupt halt, an idea dawning inside that buy little mind of hers. "No..." she gasped, like a teenage gossip girl hearing the latest scoop. "It couldn't possibly be... could it?"

With a grin that could have shamed the Cheshire cat himself, with a simple accidental discovery... just like that, something had been set in motion.

* * *

><p>It had probably been quarter of an hour since he left school. It was odd, he had a strange sense of foreboding.<p>

Suddenly he shivered and a chilly breath of air fogged out of his lungs and mouth, hanging in the air. His eyes widened in surprise. It wasn't that cold outside... how come his breath was visible? _That_ didn't make any sense...

It was a few seconds before he looked up and saw grey smoke billowing into the air. There was the sound of a fire-engine's sirens calling out in the night.

Danny's breath caught in his throat for a moment as the emergency help vehicle sped by. Somehow, he just _knew_ it was connected somehow. His emotions make him flicker out of visibility momentarily, then he bolted after the fire engine.

It was but seconds until he reached the building—an apartment block. Old, made of wood and a little stone. Apparently quite flammable. Orange flames licked up the sides of the building like twisting oriental dancers.

The firemen got to work immediately.

A few people managed to stumble out of the building, clutching to family like a lifeline. There was a sickening crunch as some crucial support beams fell away, and half the roof seemed to cave in. "It's going to come down any minute," muttered one of the firemen. Danny didn't even fully realise he shouldn't have been able to hear it.

Danny's heart beat slowed, and everything else seemed to slow down as if to compensate.

"Where's Miranda," demanded a Spanish-looking lady desperately. Her accent was heavily Spanish, she'd probably only started speaking English regularly quite recently. She looked terrified. "Where's my daughter?"

Something seemed to snap, and time returned to normal.

He didn't even think, not even a single 'this is dangerous' or 'don't get involved', it was like he was on autopilot. Everything was a blur in his memory after that, but he would never be able to forget a single moment.

Danny—scrawny, human, Daniel Fenton—rushed forward, into the burning building. He panted in the smoggy smoke. He vaguely remembered the alarmed yells of everyone telling him he should come right back out. One of the civilians tried to follow him, but was stopped when burning ash fell from the upper floor, blocking the entrance.

Quickly, he followed the sound to where a girl was making soft whimpers.

He couched as he quickly stumbled toward the sounds. She was upstairs... he had to go up the burning stairway? It was falling apart! Faster than he probably should have, he dashed up the stairs. It fell away behind him. He coughed, scrambling onto the ledge.

Then suddenly he saw her. She was about half his age, maybe even less. And she was blocked off from all exits by fallen burning wood. She was being clever though, and lying on the ground to get away from the majority of the black smoke.

_How am I going to get at her_, he briefly wondered in shock. Then he realised._ Intangibility! Duh, ghost powers!_ He tried to go intangible, but ended up transforming. He bit his lip, then tried again. It worked!

Danny reached his hand through the burning beams. He was suddenly glad that he had learned _some_ Spanish in school (that particular teacher made everything he said sound as interesting as watching paint dry). He only hoped she would understand his badly said words and American accent... "Toma-" he coughed violently, interrupting himself. He hurriedly continued, his voice desperate, "Toma mi mano!"

"Espíritu," she breathed confusedly, eyes wide. She was stiff a moment, then she frowned in fear.

Danny raked his brain, trying to remember more words. "Va a estar bien. Confía en mí," he said, hoping she would understand.

Apparently so. Miranda reached out a hand, hopeful but scared. He pulled her out, and clutched her to his chest. She closed her eyes, hoping she'd made the right choice. He could feel her shaking slightly, and her heart beat was racing.

Danny then bolted down the stairs. They broke away underneath him but he kept on running on air. He didn't really have time to realise that wasn't normal. He got to the door, it was blocked. He looked around wildly and saw that if he went now, he could smash through the window...

He changed back to human mid-run accidently, and twisted so that he wouldn't get Miranda scratched up by the glass. The shards bit into his back like sharp teeth, but he ignored the pain. He hit the ground with a thud, and some of the shards dug deeper into his flesh. He unwillingly let out a slight hiss of air.

"Miranda," shouted a voice. The woman.

"¡Mamá!" exclaimed the girl tearfully. Danny opened an eye to see the girl being enveloped in a big hug from her mother. He had a small smile on his features. The girl looked amazed, excited and terrified as she shouted gleefully. "¡Vi a un espíritu, mamá!"

Danny was helped up by a fireman and a medic who'd come in an ambulance some time while he was in the building. They helped him to a stretcher where the medic clicked his tongue. "That was a foolish thing to do, kid," he said.

"I know," Danny flushed a bit pink. "I don't know what I was thinking."

The woman came over and patted Danny's arm briefly. "Thank you for saving my daughter," she said honestly. "How can I ever repay you?"

Danny got embarrassed and went even pinker. "It's ok. Really. You don't need to repay me."

She smiled widely. "Gracias al chico, Miranda," she said to her daughter.

"Gracias, espíritu," said Miranda cheerfully, beaming widely.

Danny returned the smile, "De nada. No fue ningún problema." He leaned in close. "¿Sabes guardar un secreto?" Her eyes widened, then she grinned and nodded vigorously. Danny smiled. "Guardar mi secreto."

She looked proud, "Yo, amigo!"

The medic sighed. "This'll pinch a bit," he warned. Danny winced as his cold hands touched a glass shard and gently pulled it out. It didn't hurt terribly much, but it _was_ uncomfortable.

A few minutes later the fires had been put out completely, and his wounds had been dealt with and bandaged. One of the firemen came out and said quietly to another, "Two people didn't make it. They were crushed by the cave-in." Danny shouldn't have been able to hear them.

His friend sighed, she looked distraught. "Do any of the survivors know them?"

He shrugged.

Danny felt like someone had punched him in the gut.

Shell-shocked, he realised with a jolt that if he had only come around sooner, acted quicker, that they might still be alive right now...

Not even caring if anyone saw, not even truly noticing, he turned completely invisible.

And he bolted.

The afternoon air was crisp, and he was running so fast it actually stung his skin a little, but he didn't care. He couldn't find the will to care.

Everything was backwards. Everything.

He didn't really acknowledge until much later that he was sitting in a tree—his tree—and his mind was racing a marathon.

It wasn't his fault the fire had started—it wasn't!

But no matter how hard he tried otherwise, he couldn't help blaming himself for what happened. Sure, he managed to save a life; that was something at least. But in his mind, that was heavily overshadowed by the fact someone, _two_ someone_s_, were dead.

Dead... and he could have saved them!

He could have...

If he hadn't lingered...


End file.
